New Medical Examiner

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma medical examiner's office says the agency's top job has been offered to a doctor who retired from a job as medical examiner in Phoenix and who worked in the Oklahoma lab during the early 1970s.

Spokeswoman Cherokee Ballard said the board that supervises the office offered the top position Thursday to Dr. Philip Keen after interviewing three candidates.

Ballard said she didn't know if Keen accepted the offer, which was made conditioned on a favorable background check.

Oklahoma City television station KWTV reports all three candidates have Oklahoma ties. Dr. Andrew Sibley is the current interim acting chief medical examiner. Dr. Jay Chapman of California was the chief medical examiner for Oklahoma in 1971.